System of coking



Aug. 28, 1923.

G. W. TRAER ET AL SYSTEM OF COKING Filed Jan. 20 1919 5 Sheet-Sheet 1Aug. 28, 1923.

G. W. TFEAER ET AL SYSTEM OF COKING Fiied Jan. 20, 1919 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Aug. 28, W23.

G. W. TRAER ET AL SYSTEM OF comm Filed Jan. 20, 1919 5 Sheeta-Shet 5Patented Aug. 228, i923.

ester GLENN W. TEASER, AND C UDE M. GARLAliII), OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,.ASSIGNURE T0 UNIVERSAL COAL PRO UCTS COMPANY, 02 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORATION OF MINE.

SYSTEM 03: CURING.

Application filed January 26, 1919. Serial No. 272,t?28.

7 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GLENN W. TRAER and (In-mun M. GARLAND, citizens ofthe United States, and residents of Qhicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful improvements inSystems of ilolring, of which the following is a description; referencebeing had to the accompanying driiwings, which form a part of ourspecification.

Our invention reh tes. more especially to a system of and apparatus forcoking; coal at comparatively low temperatures: the system ron'iprisinga retort wherein the volatiie hydrocarbons may he distilled from thecoal; more especially bituminous coal, temperatures greatly less thanare employed in the ordinary gas-house and oy-product' ovens forproducing non-volatiie col-:e.

The object of our invention is to provide :1 system comprising: a seriesof retorts whereby the coking oi" bituminous coal, at comparatively lowteniperatures, may he etfooted in a substantially continuous manner, asdistinguished from the usual intermittentniethod heretofore employed;the system including means whereby the coal will be maintained in therespective retorts in separnte units, preferably of greater vertical dimensions than the transverse dimensions thereof; the heating; of thecoal units being accomplished as the respective coal units progressivelytravel from one end of the oven to the other through the respective retorts. heated to temperatures of such degree that a portion of thevolatile hydrocarlion will he left in the produce namely thosehydrocarbons which will not voiatn lize at the maximum degree oftemperature proposed in the operation of our in'iprored system; nicsnswhereby the coal is conveyed in separate units being di- .videdintocolnmnar sections or sub-units and composed of metal of great heatcon ductivity; while the means are adapted'to travel freely through thecoking retorts or chambers from end to end thereof.

Our invention contemplates an oven preterably provided with a pluralityof retorts of length suilicient to receive aplurality or coal-holding;means 01" containers justreferred to, which are intended to beprogressively moved at predetermined intervals through the distillationzone of the retorts,

from What may he termed the charging ends toward the discharging endsthereof. The distilling or coking portions of the retorts are preterehiyformed of metallic shells .se cured together, end to end, aimi heatedpreferahy by means of gas burners arranged in fines disposed vertically,on opposite sides of the, retort proper; with the various finescommunicating with a flue common to all of the heating fines. Thevarious retorts, at fixed points, are all provided with takeoff pipesfor removing the distillate gases which rise in the retorts; saidtake-off pipes preferably communicating with the upper ends or tops ofthe respective retorts end the tnkeoif pipes in turn conducting thedistillate gases'to any suitable place of storage or scrubbing piant.

The system also comprises a series of re torts,- both ends whereof areprovided with portions separated from the main or heating portion of theretort by closure means whereby locks are produced at both ends of eachretort and the admission of air into the heating or distilling portionsof the retorts will be substantiallyprevented; said portions or locksbeing of length sufiicient to accommodate two of the coal-holding meansor containers preferably with said portions divided into separatecompartments by an inner closure means or gate disposed at a distancefrom the outer closure means or gate suilicient to permit a unit orcontainer to be disposed on both sides of the gate beyond the distillingzone.

The invention also contemplates means adapted to compensate for theunequal expansion and contraction of the various parts of the oven so asto maintain a comparative gas and airtight structure; and also meanswhereby the retorts may be elternately charged and discharged insuccessive pairs; the ends at the-same side.0f

the oven of a pair of retorts constituting a charging and a discharglngend respectively, 4

The construction and operation of 0111' imother portions shown insection to. show interior construction.

- Figure 2 is a longitudinal diagraminati section of one end of ourimproved oven Figure 3 is a similar view of the opposite end of theoven.

igure i is a vertical sectional view taken at an intermediate point ofthe retort between. the ends and. sides thereof, namely at a pointthrough a pairoi retorts and the correlated heating fines. v

Figure 5 is a plan view of the intermediate portion shown in Figure 4,with-parts broken away to more clearly disclose the internalconstruction. a

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figurelooking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 77 of Figure llooking in the direction of the arrows.

In the preferred embodiment of our invention as disclosed in thedrawings, in corn prises a horizontally disposed oven provided with aplurality of preferably horizontally aligned retorts arranged inparallel relation with each other and extending lengthwise of the oven.

The oven is shown provided with a suit able foundation preferablycomprising a plurality of columns or piers 20, of concrete or othersuitable material, arranged in spaced relation as shown in Figures 1, 6and 7, so as to provide suitable support at spaced intervals apart forthe respective retorts of the oven.

The spaces intermediate of the columns or piers 20, 20 are provided withtransversely disposed lines, of suitable masonry, as shown at 21 inigures 1 4-, 6 and 'Z and theseilues all communicate with a common flue,not shown, for conveying the burnt gases or products from the respectivetransversely disposed flues 2]. and also provide suitable draft in thevarious heating fines superimposed on the transversely disposed lines 2twhich are arranged on opposite sides of the arious retorts of the oven.I

The main portion of the oven is shown constructed of suitable masonrywith the heating flues shown at 22 in Figures 4 and 1, formed ofsuitable refractory material. The fluos 22 are arranged in serieslengthwise oi? the oven, on both sides of the retort as shown in thediagrammatic plan views in Figures 2 and 3; with the fines extendingvertically throughout the height of the retort 23, see Figure 4. Theheating lines 22 prei'j erably converge slightly toward the bottoms andeach communicates with a passage 24% all of which communicate with theirrespective transverse lines 21. The connections bctween the heatingflues 2'2 and the passages i mosaic inents shown in the nature of themetallic cylinder or opeireuded casting 25, flanged at the upper end, asat 26, so as to be suitably supportedby or embedded in the masonry oftheoven, as shown in Figure 4t; while the lower end of the cylinder 25extends into the metallic cup member 27 which. is provided with thevertically disposed flanges arranged in spaced relation and adapted tocontain sand or other suitable sealing inatcrial, as shown in Figure l;the lower end of the element 25 extending into the sand or scalingmaterial so as to provide an air-seal between the elements 25 and 27 andtherefore for the connection between the heatingflues and theirrespective transversely disposed fiues E31 and at the same timecompensate for any unequal expansion and corn traction. In order toprovide suitable sup; port for the refractory material of the heatinglines 22, the metallic member 25 is shown provided with an internalflange or projection 28 on. which the brick of the heatingfiues may restand at the same time permitany difi'erenees in expansion or contraction.

The sides of the retorts 23 are preferably each formed of a series ofmetallic sections 29; the tops being formed of metallic sections 30, seeFigures 4 and 6'; while the bottoms of the retorts are formed of themetallic channel members or sections 31. The bottoms of the retorts aresupported by metallic 3 all shown provided with outwardly disposed.

flanges, see Figures 4t and 6, which enable the respective sections tohave close abut relation with each other and be bolted together, shownfor example at 33 in Figure 6. The joints hot-ween the respectivmetallic sections, constituting" the inner walls of the retorts, in y befilled with any suitable substance adapted to provide gastight jointsthroughout the lengths the retorts. The side' sections of the retortsare adapted to rest on ledges formed by the masonry of the heating Hues,as shown in Figure l; and the bottom sections 31 of the retorts havelongitudinal sides preferably formed into the inverted J-shape, shown inFigure l, thereby providing a suitable track or run-way for the Wheeledcoal carriers or containers while the channels or intermediate portionsof the bottom sections are adapted to receive the steam-conduits 35disposed lengthwise of the rotor-ts and provided with a plurality ofupwardly diverg ing jets tips 36 whereby superheated steam may beinjected into the retorts at points centrally beneath the coal-carriersor containers steam conduits 35 of the respective retorts communicatewith vert' caliy disposed conduits 3? which extend inl weenie therespective transversely disposed flues 21. and communicate with a mainsteam conduit 38.

The support for theretorts on the columns or piers 20 is preferablyformed by means of suitable roller-bearings shown M139, which rest onand are adapted to move alhng the metallic pedestals or castings 32; thebottom castings 31 of the retort at points coincident wit'h'the bearings39 being preferably pro vided with steel plates as at so, see Figures .4and 6, and thus permit longitudinal more meat, due to expansion andcontraction, of the retorts on. the piers or columns 20.

The top of the oven at points coincident with the heating flucsQzZpriwidedwith gas-burner receiving openings -11; preferably arranged inpairs, as shown in Figure 5, so as to suitably heat the respective coalcontaining portions of the rctorts intermediate of the ends thereof. Theproducts of combustion are caused to pass downwardly through the heatinlines and therefore throughout the entire height of the retorts.

The lower portions oi the rct-orts, as shown in Figure 4, are preferablymade of somewhat greater lateral dimensions in order to accommodate thewheeled portions of the carriers or containers 3% which are (l1S" posedbeyond the m.a1n sides of the carriers,

as shown in Figure 4; and the retoits, at

predetermined points, coincident with the positioning of the carriers inthe rotor-ts, are provided with suitable outlets or take-oil pipes 42for the purpose of conveying' the distillates from the retorts to anysuitable place of storage; the take-oil pipes 42 of the various retortsconnecting with a conduit or header common to all and shown at 3 in thedrawings' Each metallic section of the retorts is shown provided with aflange or rib disposed lengthwise of the section and preferably T- shapein cross-section, as shown ate-41 in Figure 5; said ribs 44 providing asuitable hearing and interlocking point for the brick lining of theheating fines 22, nauicl the por tion which extend trunsve sely andseparates one flue from the other, shown at 22*, see Figure 7. v

The sides of the oven, namely at both ends of the retort, for apredelermincd distance, are not provided with l siting tines,

see Figures 2 and 3. where the relorts are shown to continue and. extendbeyond the heating Hues, to an extent slightly greater till ' beenintroduced into the. coking or than the length of a pair oi coalcarriers which are shown a't 3 t and 34, thereoy iroviding zones orlocks at the ends of the retorts adapted to contains coal containerswhich, in the one instance, nave not yet distillation zone of the retortand in the other instance carriers which have asscd lhrou h thedistillation zone and contain the coke.

These vided nres 1., 2 and 3; which are suitably-operated, as forexample hydraulically, as contemplated in Figure l, where double actingwater-cylinders are illustrated at -16, the pistons whereof connect withthe inner doors 45 and cause the latter to be lifted into the casings 47secured .to suitable metallic frames in which the doors 45 slide. Theouter ends of the retorts are also provided with metallic doors 4-8operated in any suitable manner, as for example by similar double actingwater-cylinders 49 which cause the outer doors to move upwardly into thecasings 5i) when it is desired to open the doors. It is thus apparentthat both ends of each retort are provided with what may be termed alock, which enables the insertion of a coal container at the chargingend and the withdrawal of a coke container or carrier at the dischargingend, without admitting any substantial amount of air to the distillationzone or portions of the ovens; the inner and outer doors being spacedapart a distance greater than. the length of a container or carrier.

The containers or carriers. shown at 34,- consist of suitable metallicreceptacles or boxes of predetermined height, width and length and openat the top; the containers or carriers being preferably of the typedescribed in mus; iiillies Lelia-rs Patent No. l,2t 7,-'l-Tl, of ll'iay28, lillb. The containers are inserted into thorelorts at suitableintervals oi time at the charging ends thereof; each successivecontainer forcing those which have preceded it until the distillationextended ends of the retorts are proaoncs of the reiorls have beenfilled as well as the zones just beyond the inner doors at the chargingends. It is apparent, that after this has been accomplished, a. furthercharging o'l the retorls will cause the first inserted container to bemoved into the zone bcyond the healing;' lines, at the discharging endof the retort. in the ope-r :ition of our improved system, in order tofacilitate operation. each alternate retort will be charged at the onecud ol' the oven, llll the adjacent",rcloi'ls will be charged at theopposite end of the oven; for exiinn pic in Figures 2 and 3. the retortmarked will .lll charged at. the loft hand-end in l igure 2, anddischargeal. the right hand end in l igure 3: while the adjacent retorlsl) and T will discharge at the left in Figure 2 and be charged at theright hand end, as suown in Figure Cl; ll ilh this arrange ment, thecarriers or containers indicated niarlied i-l l in retorls A, B and (lin Figures i3 and 3, have passed through the distillation zone andtilierefore contain coke and are in with inner doors, as at 4-5, see Figi Mil condition to be moved into the locks o zones intermediate of theinner and outer doors. as soon as the inncrdoors at said ends of theretorts are opened.

The system, as exemplified'in the drawings, discloses suitablesub-structures at both sides of the oven, namely at opposite ends of therespective retorts, on which are mounted suitable rams, as shown at 51and 52, which may be used for pushing and pol ing, that is for pushingthe coal tilled containers into the retorts and for pulling thecoke-holding containers out of the retorts; the rams being operated byany suitable motive power and so mounted that they may be movedtransversely of the ends of the retorts to enable them to be broughtimmedia-tely opposite the respective ends of the various retorts of theoven,

The containers which are moved into the zones intermediate of the innerdoors and main portions of the retorts are beyond the distilling effectof the heating fines and -therefore are enabled to slightly cool,permitting the contents or coke to contract so that by the time thecontainer has passed through the lock, intermediate of the inner andouter doors, and has been withdrawn from said lock to the exterior ofthe retort, the contents will readily discharge there from uponunlocking the bottoms of the con tainer The containers may then be recharged with coal and forced into the charg ing' end of an adjacentretort, As will. be understood from the operation, each con tainer isprogressively advanced through the heating or distillation Zone of there tort before it reaches the non-heated por tion of the retort inadvance of its entry into the look ot the discharging end, so that eachcontainer remains in the heating or distillation zone a givenpredetermined length of time commensurate witi'ii the low temperaturecoking process to which our improved system is edapted.

in order to enable the containers be forced out of the looks into themain portion of the retorts, that is beyond the inner doors after thelatter are lifted, We prefer to provide the outer doors 48 with openingsoif size just sufiicient for the passage of the rams 52; the openingsbeing provided with slidingcovers, or other suitable closing means, topermit movement of the container from the lock beyond the inner dooratten the latter has been, raised ithout necessitating the opening oithe outer door and thereby permitting ingress of air. In operation, itwill be understood that after a container has been inserted into a lookat the :harging end of the retort, the outer door is closed before theinner door is opened and the container is then forced beyond the innerdoor, after the latter has been raised, by inserting the ram 52 throughthe opening in the closed outer Lose 21o door. Boring this operation,the inner door at the opposite end oi said retort is opened, while theouter door at said end remains 'closed, thus permitting the container inproximity to the discharging end ot the retort, to be "forced. by thetrain of containers in the retort, into the lock intermediate 15'' therains are mounted. The. plattorms 5% v are adapted to move along thesub-structure 53 transversely of the retortends; such. operation being;induced by any suitable pow er-driven mechanism in order that the canrier 34, which has been discharged from the retort, after having thecoke discharged therefrom and having again been filled with coal, may bemoved into alignment with an adjacent retort.

The substructure 53 is shown provided with a suitable coke-receivingchute, as at 5.5,Wl1ich may be provided with any snitalole dragconveyor, as at 56, wherebythe coke may be conveyed. to a suitable cokecutter or place of storage,-

lhe coal handling portion of the system comprises a super-structureconsisting of any suitable framework, as shown at 5? in Figure l, whichis provided with belt or other suitable conveyors, not shown, where bythe coal which has been elevated or brought into the trough of thesuper-structure is conveyed into the suspended bunkers onhopp-ers 58, 58arranged transversely of the retorts at both sides of the oven.

The bunkers or hoppers 58, at predetermined points throughout theirlengths, are provided with discharge as at 52 pivotally suspended to thebottoms of the hnnlters or hoppers at points Where the latter areprovided with discharge openings, as illustrated for example at 60 inFigure l, The discharge spouts are preferably so pivoted that they maybe swung to a certain extent from side to side and thus enable the coalto be charged into all portions or compartments of a contaii'zer orcarrier without necessitating movement of the carrier, The spouts areprovided at their ends with snitahle closure means or valves as at $1,so that the discharge of coal. through them may be controlled and shutoii'.

At points coincident with the discharge spout so, we prefer to providemeans in the nature of guards, as shown at 32, fit the upper ends of thecontainers 3%,,to guide the'coal and prevent spilling thereof duringthecharging process. The gosrds adapted to i 62 are preferably made toconform with the cross-sectional configuration of the upper ends of thecarriers 34 and are suitably suspended from the super-structure 57 bymeans of tie rods 63.

" In our improved system, the retorts prefwhere the heating lines arelocated, so as to provide a'zone or space at each end of all retorts,suilicientto receive at least a' single container'or carrier prior-tothe entry of the container into the heating or distillation zone, at thecharging end of the retort, or subsequent to its: eriod in the heatingor distillation zone and just prior to its entry into the lockintermediate of the inner and outer doors at the discharge end of thereably or slidably supported on the various piers of the sub-structure,except possibly to the center piers located intermediate of the ends ofthe respective retorts, where the retort-shells are preferably securelybolted or otherwise secured to said'piers.

In practice, the supporting piers are preferably so spaced as to providesuitable sup port, throughout the lengths of the retorts, at pointsapart substantially equal to the length of the containers, in order thata pier or support will be disposed approximately beneath every containerwhen the retorts have been completely charged.

The outer tops of the retorts are prefer-- ably formed of bricks whichare supported or carried in a layer of sand or other suitable insulatingmaterial, as shown at 64 in Figure 4.

In a low temperature system, the volume of volatile hydrocarbondistilled is materially less than is the case with other types of ovensor systems and therefore the flow or outward passage of the gases, bytheir own expansion, through the take ofi' conduits 42, would becomparatively slow, thus permitting the distillates to remain in theretorts for a greater period than desired, with the result that thegases would be in contact with the heated walls of the retorts as wellas with the metallic containers, which would induce a cracking effect onthe distillates. In order to overcome this. undesired effect, I providethe superheated steam conduits 35 centrally at the bottom of: theretorts and beneath the containers, w1th the result that the risingsteam induces a, current to be set up in the retorts and.

therefore provides a medium whereby the distillates are quickly carriedoff through the various conduits 42. Furthermore, with the superheatedsteam introduced centrally' beneath the containers, it not only comesinto direct contact with the bottoms of the containers, but also withthe side walls of the coal which is being coked in the retorts. VVrththebrick of the heating flues kerfed' and dove-tailed with thevertically disposed ribs 46lof the retort-shells, as previouslydescribed,.unequal expansion and contraction will be taken care of and.expansion in the heating iiues will be practically confined to therespective fines between the flanges 44; in other words, the tendencytoward cumulative expansion throughout the entire lengths of the heatingflues'will be substantially eliminated.

' life have shown and described what We believe to be the simplestexempli'fica'tion of our improved system, but alterations may be made incertain details of construction, without, however, departing from thespirit of our invention.

. "What we claim is a 1. In a, system ofthe class described, an ovenprolvided with a-plurality of longitudinally disposed retorts composedof metallic sections secured together, the side members of said metallicsections being provided with vertically disposed ribs, heating fluesarranged on both sides of the retorts and composed of refractorymaterial, the heat.-. a

ing llues being divided into independent sections with the refractorymaterial of the heating flues arranged in interlocking re-,

lation withthe vertically disposed ribs of the metallic sections so asto'confine expansion and contraction to the respective flue sections,and a sub-structure for said oven provided with means whereby theretorts and heating fines are supported and expansion and contraction,independent of said sub-structure, permitted.

2. In a system of the class described, an oven having a plurality ofretorts compose of metallic sections-secured together, the

side members of the sections being provided with outwardly disposedvertical llbS, andheating flues composed of refractory mate-' rialarranged onboth sides of each retort,

said heating fines being divided into a series of sections by means oftransversely disposed refractory material, said refractory materialhavin interlocking relation with the vertically disposed ribs of theretort- -sectionsfihereby expansion and. contraction torts composed ofmetallic sections and a plurality of vertically disposed heating finesformed of refractory material disposed on both sides of the i'etorts,the refractory material of the heating fines being arranged ininterlocking relation with the metallic sect-ions of the retorts, with asub-structure comprising a series of fines disposed transversely of thesuper-structure and in communication With the heating fines thereof,said sub-structure including a series of ac tort-supporting portions,air-sealing means intermediate of the sub-structure and the heatingfines of the super-structure, and leterall'y movable meansintermediziteiof the sub-structure and the retorts of the superstructuresaid air-sealing means and laterally movable means permit-ting theretorts and the heating fines to have expansion and contractionindependent of that of the substructure.

4i a! system of the character described, the combination of asuperstructure having a plurality of retorts composed of metallicsections secured together and provided at both ends with inner and outerclosure means, operable independently from the retort exterior andarranged in spaced relation to provide chambers therebetween, aplurality of heating fines, on both sides of the retorts, composed ofrefractory material arranged in interlocking relation with the metallicsections of the retorts at points intermediate of the ends thereof, witha snb-stimcture comprising a plurality of piers and fines common to allof the heating fines of the superstructure, telescopically arrangedmembers intermediate of the sub struetnre and the heating fines ofthesuperstructnre whereby said heating fines may haveexpansion andcontraction independent of the sub-structure, said members beingprovided with an air-sealing medium, and

laterally movable means disposed on thepiers of the substructure forsupporting the retorts of the super-structure and to permit expansionand contraction of said retorts.

GLENN W. TRAER,

CLAUDE M. GARLAND.

lilitnesses G. l'li'l-IDMAN,

A. Fromm,

